Sens. Joe Manchin and John Barrasso injected momentum into the protracted permitting and grid negotiations when they secured bipartisan support for their bill before the August recess.
Now House Republicans are adding another layer of complexity to the talks with a sweeping plan to overhaul the National Environmental Policy Act.
A House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing Wednesday on Chair Bruce Westerman’s (R-Ark.) draft NEPA legislation showed how difficult getting a final deal will be during the remaining weeks of the 118th Congress.
Still, lawmakers from both chambers and both sides of the aisle are engaging in active negotiations on the issue. Many are hoping to beat election-year odds against major legislation, and NEPA changes may end up attracting House GOP buy-in.
“My friends across the aisle have approved a lot of money for renewable energy projects,” Westerman said during the hearing. “There are more of those held up by permitting than traditional energy projects.”
Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), who helped negotiate modest NEPA changes in last year’s debt ceiling law, showcased a chart to that effect during the hearing.
Still, many Democrats question whether significant changes are needed to make sure clean energy projects — including those funded by the Inflation Reduction Act — don’t get stalled.
Senior committee Democrats Jared Huffman of California, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico on Wednesday compared Westerman’s bill to Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for a potential second Trump administration.
Manchin’s bill would ease approvals for both renewable and fossil fuel energy projects. It would also direct regions of the country to work together to build and pay for new power lines.
Westerman wants to go further. His draft would limit the scope of environmental reviews, restrict litigation and potentially downplay climate considerations in the process.
“They want to kill NEPA through the death of a thousand cuts. Team Extreme is back,” said Huffman. “We don’t need an even uglier stepchild of this Manchin-Barrasso bill.”
‘Don’t upset the apple cart’
Even though Westerman’s bill is enraging many Democrats and environmental advocates, NEPA changes could get House Republicans more enthusiastic about a permitting grand bargain.
“If there’s not a House companion, it never even gets brought up in a four corners negotiation,” said Emily Domenech, a former Republican leadership aide on energy and the environment, about talks between Democratic and Republican leaders in both chambers.
Manchin, who is leaving Congress after this year, has been very clear he wants permitting reform to be part of his legacy. He warned against mucking up the process.
“We’ve worked for so long and so hard on the Senate side to get an agreement,” he said. “Then we have all the different trades signing on. There’s always going to be downers, which I understand. … I think we have a good balanced bill, and everyone’s very pleased with us. We have to be very careful that we don’t upset the apple cart.”
But the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chair is not rejecting Westerman’s offering. A meeting this week included Manchin, Westerman, Barrasso and Rep. Scott Peters. The California Democrat has been keen on a NEPA overhaul.
Peters called the Manchin-Barrasso bill “on the right track.” As for the Westerman bill, Peters said he hasn’t signed on yet because he wants to see “technical” fixes.
Barrasso — the Energy and Natural Resources ranking member and a part of the Senate’s GOP leadership — said their meeting was “to talk about ways to get something done successfully, because it’s really critically important that we get this done this year.”
“It’s likely going to be in the lame duck,” he said, adding, “There’s a commitment from the four of us to get permitting signed into law this year.”
Reporter Emma Dumain contributed.
